Attorney General Mike Cox issued a 107-page report on the October 28, 2009
assassination of African American Muslim Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah. The imam
was shot 20 times by FBI agents at a Dearborn warehouse where he had been lured
by informants under false pretenses.

When the imam arrived to purportedly unload goods from transport
trucks, which in actuality had been supplied by the FBI, he was
attacked by a police dog and shot to death by several agents. The
conclusion of the report issued by Cox upholds the actions of the
federal government saying that they were justified.

The report released on September 30 begins with unsubstantiated
allegations taken directly from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in
a 44-page criminal complaint issued at the time of the Imam Abdullah’s
assassination. Cox states that “FBI agents’ use of deadly force in this matter
was legally justified.”(Attorney General Report, p. 2)

In a subsequent report issued by the Dearborn Police on October 1, new details
reveal that the killing of the imam was a counter-terrorism
operation. The Detroit Free Press notes that “the FBI brought in 14
agents from an elite squad based in Quantico, Va., known as HRT,
Hostage Rescue Team, to assist the Detroit FBI.” (Detroit Free Press, October
1)

The Free Press continues by pointing out that “Three of the four
agents who shot at Abdullah were with HRT. The team is known for
dealing with hostage or counter-terrorism situations.” In addition to
66 federal agents being involved in the operation, there was also the
presence of ICE, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Wayne County
Sheriff’s Department, Detroit Police and Dearborn Police.

Various organizations have rejected the AG’s report as relying almost
exclusively on information provided by the FBI and government
informants. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of
Michigan has criticized the report as being one-sided.

A press statement issued by the Detroit Coalition Against Police
Brutality on October 1 stated “We believe that the 22-shot barrage
that brought an end to the life of Imam Luqman, and which resulted in at
least 10 men awaiting trial on minor criminal charges, represents a misuse of
federal, state and local law enforcement resources.”
(Detroit News, October 1)

--
A revolution now cannot be confined to the place or people where it may
commence, but flashes with lightning speed from heart to heart, from land to
land, til it has traversed the globe ...
--Frederick Douglass